On Friday, Marwa Balkar of Southern California decided to respond to Donald Trump’s hate speech toward the Islamic community. Trump, in an interview with Yahoo News, suggested the need for a national effort to monitor mosques, and said he “wouldn’t rule out” a system of having Muslims register in a database or carry a card signifying their religious beliefs. Balkar responded to this by denoting her faith by the peace sign she wears on her chest.
“I heard you wanted us the start wearing ID badges, so I decided to choose one for myself. I am not easily identifiable as a #Muslim just by looking at me, so my new badge will let me display proudly who I am. I chose the peace sign because it represents my #Islam. The one that taught me to oppose #injustice and yearn for #unity,” Balkar wrote on her Facebook post.
The post has generated more than 140,000 likes as of this afternoon, and about 90,000 shares. Marwa’s amazing blend of sharing her values while expressing some serious sarcasm toward Donald Trump is both well-written and brave, but more importantly it shows just how plainly ignorant it is to corner an entire group of people based on their faith. The fear mongering around Muslim people needs to end, and Donald Trump’s willingness to “not rule out” having an entire religion register in a database brings up some haunting reminders of the yellow Stars of David that singled out Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Hate doesn’t end hate. Marwa knows that, I know that and hopefully the rest of the United States figures that out for the sake of us all.
Photos via Facebook/Marwa Balkar.
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